Public Accommodations Project

Cases involving civil rights violations in places of public accommodation (businesses open to the public) arise with some frequency, and are staffed by attorneys from the various Committee Projects.

Over the past forty years, the Committee has played a leading role in a series of high-profile national cases, starting with a case against Holiday Spas Health Clubs, and hotel and restaurant chains such as Denny’s and Adams Mark Hotels.

The Committee’s work in this area is not limited to restaurants and hotels. For example, the Committee achieved a major settlement against an Avis rent-a-car franchise in South Carolina in a case that alleged discrimination against black customers. The Committee has successfully sued several local taxicab companies for discrimination against African Americans, as well as refusing to provide equal service to predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Most recently, the Committee is representing the NAACP in a series of lawsuits challenging denials of civil rights of African Americans attending the annual “Black Bike Week” in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The Committee’s pioneering fight against consumer racism – more than 35 years after the sit-ins at segregated lunch counters – has resulted in important victories for individual victims of discrimination and changed the way companies do business.